


Scar Tissue

by sunkelles



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Post-Episode: s06e14 Growing Pains, Quaranfics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:13:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23441500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunkelles/pseuds/sunkelles
Summary: Priyanka and Connie talk about the proposal, and Priyanka wants to know why Connie didn't tell her earlier.She doesn't like the answer that she gets.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran & Priyanka Maheswaran, Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe
Comments: 23
Kudos: 200





	Scar Tissue

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys, here i am, writing my first steven universe fic during 2020 in the time of plague. have some uncomfortable interactions between mother and daughter

Priyanka Maheswaran is tired. Connie hasn’t looked her in the eye since they left Steven in her observation room, growing exponentially as his father tried to calm him down. Priyanka feels her blood boil again as she remembers that no one ever took Steven to a _doctor._ That poor child broke his bones over and over again, and no one ever noticed. No one ever knew. What other trauma is buried just beneath the surface with him, to cause a reaction like that? 

She doesn’t think that it could just be Connie’s refusal of his proposal. 

“Mr. Universe is taking Steven home,” Connie says, “he got Steven to shrink back down.” Her tone sounds shaken, but still sturdy. 

“Good,” Priyanka says, “I hope that will help him calm down.” Connie doesn’t respond to that. Instead, her daughter starts toward the exit. With a determined gait like that, Priyanka knows that if she doesn’t follow behind Connie so that they can take the car, her daughter will walk home by herself. 

Priyanka fishes in her purse for her keys, and plucks them out. They jingle in her hands like sleigh bells on a horse drawn carriage. She wonders why that is, until she notices her hands are shaking. Well. Apparently an encounter with her daughter’s giant, unstable boyfriend (?) will do that to a woman. 

She pushes the exit door open, and follows Connie out the door. She hits the unlock button, and Connie turns towards the sound of the locks coming undone. She bites her lip for a second, but then walks towards the passenger door. She opens it up. Priyanka lets out an audible sigh of relief as she opens her own door and slides into the driver’s seat. 

She takes a deep breath, and glances over at Connie. Her daughter is just staring down, twiddling her thumbs in her lap. She turns the key. The engine revs, and she backs the car out of her parking space. Then, she settles into the easy haze of driving a familiar route. 

The smooth, leather steering wheel feels the same as always in her hands, and she’s finally regained the slightest hint of her bearings. So much happened in there that she hasn’t even begun to process. 

“So,” Priyanka says, “Steven proposed to you?” 

“Yeah.”

Priyanka expects Connie to elaborate, but her daughter keeps her mouth shut in an angry looking pucker. 

“Connie,” she says, “I just wondered why you didn’t tell me.” Priyanka has tried to be better with Connie. She doesn’t want her daughter to feel that she has to hide things anymore, and she’d thought that Connie was honest with her now. She isn’t so sure anymore. 

“I didn’t tell you because it wasn’t your business," Connie says. 

“It’s none of my business?” Priyanka asks, hearing her own voice rise three levels in volume, “the boy proposes to you and you never even told me that you two were _dating!”_ Connie looks a little ashamed at that. 

“I just didn’t know when to tell you we were dating,” Connie mutters. Priyanka sighs. It’s not like she hadn’t _inferred_ that Connie and Steven were dating. She’d have to be a fool not to have picked up on the signs, but- this?

“But what about the proposal, Connie? Surely that’s been weighing on you, having to bear that alone?” Connie bites her lip, which Priyanka takes as an agreement. 

“You could have told me,” Priyanka says. 

“And what if I told you?” Connie asks, agitation building, “What if you’d gotten mad at Steven, or me, or- I don’t know!” Connie lets out a frustrated huff of air. 

“Why would I have gotten mad at _you_?” Priyanka asks, feeling her eyebrows furrow. Why would Connie make that assumption, anyway? _Connie_ did nothing wrong. If Priyanka would have been mad at anyone, it would have been Steven, and she’s not sure why Connie would want to protect him from her own mother’s wrath. Mothers are supposed to be angry at their daughter’s boyfriends along with them, aren’t they? Connie doesn’t respond, and instead glares a hole in the carpet beside her feet. 

“ _ You _ weren’t the one that proposed at sixteen years old,” Priyanka says, rolling her eyes. Connie is too sensible to do something so irresponsible. 

“I’m sorry that he put you in that position.” 

“In what position?” Connie asks. 

“He made you reject him,” Priyanka says, “I know that must have been hard for you.”

“I didn’t reject him,” Connie says, “I just said not now.”  _ Not now  _ echoes in her brain, the implication of  _ someday  _ bouncing from thought to thought. That means that Connie really expects to marry him someday, just not now. 

Just not at sixteen years old. The reality of that hits Priyanka straight in the chest. 

“Oh,” Priyanka says. 

“Yeah,” Connie says. 

“Are you sure about that?” she probes, “not yet sounds like a promise. Are you sure you want to do that?”

“He’s Steven,” Connie says. Like that’s all that anyone needs to know on the subject. Priyanka sighs. She knows that she won’t make any progress if she tries to talk some sense into Connie about basically putting on a promise ring.  _ He’s Steven,  _ and Connie has always been enamored of him. He’s not a bad kid either, it’s just. There’s a lot of baggage that comes with Steven Universe. An image of a glowing, uncontrollable giant springs to mind. She forces it out of her brain. 

“Alright,” Priyanka says, “I won’t press, since I can tell that you don’t want to talk about it.” _Or let me talk you out of it,_ Priyanka thinks. Connie keeps glaring at the carpet, and Priyanka wonders if her eyes have settled on the crayon stain that Connie left as a child when her package of crayons melted on the floor. 

“But I promise I won’t get mad, Connie,” she says, “whatever happened between you and Steven, it wasn’t your fault.” Priyanka has come to care for Steven Universe over the years, but she refuses to think that her daughter is the _cause_ of whatever issues are festering with him right now. If anything, he’s still caused _Connie_ a great distress, proposing to her out of the blue at sixteen years old. Having to tell her boyfriend "not yet" was still painful experience for Connie, Priyanka is sure. 

“I _know_ that,” Connie says, sounding irritated that Priyanka even suggested that, “it’s just. I don’t think that he was asking just because he loves me.” Priyanka feels her protective instincts kick in, even though she knows that Connie won't take kindly to it. 

“He wasn’t?” she demands, ice seeping into her voice. 

“This isn’t Steven’s fault,” Connie asserts, and Priyanka sighs. She can see that she’s not going to get anywhere if she implies that she’s thinking badly of Steven. Even if she _is_ thinking those things, she can’t let Connie catch on. 

“He just- he wanted us to be Stevonnie, forever,” Connie says, “like how Ruby and Sapphire are always Garnet.” Priyanka can handle seeing Stevonnie once in a while, but the idea of Connie just- ceasing to be herself, by herself. It makes Priyanka feel ill. 

“I think that he’s lonely,” Connie says, “and I don’t know, he’s grasping for something. It’s something I can’t give.” Priyanka glances over, and she sees that Connie’s cheeks are glistening with tears. Priyanka looks politely back to the road. She takes an unnecessary turn off the usual path, just to ensure that Connie will be able to finish whatever she wants to say before they get home. She doesn’t want to pull into the driveway and have Connie clam up and then run inside to her room. 

Priyanka hears a choked little noise, and she hopes it’s not a sob. _Please don’t let it be a sob._

“I’m so worried about him,” Connie says, “he always pretends that he’s alright, no matter what.” Priyanka remembers all of the ways that Steven tried to deflect at that appointment, to convince her that he was fine when he was clearly falling apart. 

“We don’t know how badly he’s hurting,” Connie says. Apparently, the boy plastered on a grin as he broke all of his bones, over and over and over again. Priyanka thinks that Connie is right to be worried about him, but she’s not exactly going to say that. She doesn’t want to inflate her daughter’s concerns beyond what they already are. 

“At least he finally saw a doctor,” Priyanka says. She sees Connie nod out of the corner of her eye. 

“And whatever’s going on with him, he’ll talk to his father about it,” she adds, and even though Priyanka isn’t sure how much she trusts Greg’s parenting style (i.e. the doctor’s appointment), she knows that he loves his son. She’s sure that will help. It has to. 

“You’re right,” Connie says, “that will help. I think.” It’s not a total vote of confidence, but it’s not her succumbing to her worries either. That must be some sort of happy medium. Priyanka turns onto the tiny stretch of road that will take them to their house. 

She really should let the issue of Connie keeping the proposal a secret lie. Priyanka knows that Connie used to keep secret after secret because she’d created an environment where Connie felt that she could not trust her, but Priyanka has done her best to try to dismantle that. 

Is this secret an isolated incident, or is there a whole host of secrets that Priyanka doesn’t even know to look for? How much of her daughter’s life is still hidden from her? 

“Connie,” she says, “I just want you to know that you can talk to me about anything. I won’t get mad.” She would rather know something than not know something, and she knows now that Connie can take care of herself. If she can travel through space and face off against gems, Connie can handle most things. Priyanka just doesn’t want her to have to go through those things alone anymore. 

Connie takes a deep breath, and then she looks out the window as she sees Priyanka pull into the garage. Priyanka thinks that she might jerk open the handle and dash inside to avoid dealing with this conversation. Instead, she sighs. 

“Mom, I’ve always kept secrets from you. It’s kind of just a habit at this point,” she says, “but sometimes, I’m just terrified of how you’ll react to something. You'll blame me, or you'll blame Steven, or you'll jump to conclusions-” Priyanka opens her mouth, ready to dispute that, but Connie shakes her head. 

“Maybe it’s stupid, but I just- I don’t know how to talk to you about everything yet. Maybe someday... But not today.” Priyanka’s breath hitches in her chest. She never expected to hear words so frank from her daughter. Connie isn’t ready to be honest with her, because Priyanka spent so much of Connie's life being so controlling. 

Priyanka grips the steering wheel tightly, feeling the soft leather contour to fit her fingers. 

Her voice is tight as she says, “thank you for being honest, Connie.” She doesn’t mean for it to be a dig at her daughter, but Connie’s face twists into a scowl. She grabs for the car door and rips at the handle, slamming it open. She runs through the garage, bounds up the stairs, and slams the door to the house behind her. Priyanka couldn't catch up with her before Connie holes up in her room even if she tried. She thinks that trying would be a bad idea right now anyway.

Priyanka lies her forehead down on the steering wheel. She takes a deep breath, and tries not to let her daughter’s words sting so much. Secrets, secrets, secrets. Their entire relationship is still built upon secrets. She’d thought that she had fixed things, but that was overly optimistic- naive, even. It turns out, she’s left more scar tissue on Connie than she’d hoped. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> i haven't watched the earlier steven universe stuff in a while, so my characterization of priyanka is based more off of vague memories and the most recent episode. sorry if it doesn't line up totally, but i really do think that connie withheld the information about the proposal because she doesn't feel comfortable talking to her parents about things like this. i wanted to explore that.


End file.
